Kyren Wilson won a crucial last frame of the second session of the Cazoo World Championship final against Jak Jones to lead 11-6 overnight.
Jones had earlier trailed 7-0, the worst start to a world final since John Parrott took the first seven frames against Jimmy White in 1991. Tenacious Jones looked set to reduce his arrears to 10-7, but lost a black ball battle as Wilson finished the first day of the final with a five-frame cushion. They return at 1pm on Monday for eight more frames, ahead of the concluding session from 7pm.
Wilson needs seven of the last 18 frames to win snooker's biggest prize for the first time, while Jones would need the biggest final-day come-back in Crucible history to get to 18 first.
Welshman Jones took the first two frames of the session with breaks of 75 and 52 to close to 7-3. World number 12 Wilson responded with 125 and 60 to lead 9-3 at the interval. Jones, ranked 44th, got the better of frame 13 but Wilson hit back with a 122, his fourth century of the final and eighth of the tournament.
A cracking long pot on the fourth-last red set Jones up to take frame 15, and in the next he made 90, his highest break of the match so far, to close to 10-6. The last frame of the session looked to be going the way of Jones when his break of 64 put him 29 points ahead with just the colours left, only for Wilson to get the snooker he needed on the yellow. It came down to a long safety exchange on the final black, and Jones went for a risky double to a baulk corner but narrowly missed, handing Wilson the chance to extend his lead.
The Kettering cueman punched the air as he left the arena, as he remains on track to become the 23rd player to lift the famous trophy at the Crucible.
